Undocumented Immigrants are People Too

I spend Tuesday evenings at a community organization teaching a class on citizenship and advocacy to Latino immigrants in preparation for their naturalization exams. Recently, we had a class discussion about one of the most important responsibilities of a citizen—using one’s time to make positive changes in his or her community. I asked the students, “What do you want to change in your community?” Some of their answers included:

“I want to get the trash on our streets cleaned up.”
            “I want my neighborhood to be safer and quieter.”
            “I want to help people who don’t know English.”
            “I want people to be able to get jobs who need them.”
            “I want there to be more special classes at school to help kids with disabilities.”
            “I want to help older persons in my community.”

Having worked with (and lived in the same neighborhood as) immigrants for several years, I sometimes reflect on how these hard-working people, who often overcame significant struggles in their homelands be fore arriving in the U.S., are such inspiring symbols of hope for a country that prides itself on being a land of opportunity.

Different perceptions about immigrants are revealed through the words spoken by various parties. When the Catholic Church talks about immigrants, it talks about persons, filled with dignity and deserving of respect. In the U.S. Catholic bishops’ Justice for Immigrants Campaign literature, one of the 5 principles that the bishops say should guide immigrant reform is respect for human dignity: 

Persons who enter a nation without proper authorization or who over-stay their visas should be treated with respect and dignity. They should not be detained in deplorable conditions forlengthy periods of time, shackled by their feet and hands, or abused in any manner. They should be afforded due process of the law and, if applicable, allowed to articulate a fear of return to their home before a qualified adjudicator. They should not be blamed for the social ills of a nation.

Clearly, the focus is on the fact that above all else, the immigrant is a person, made in God’s image. Three out of the other four principles also focus on the immigrant as a person: persons have a right to find opportunities within their homeland; persons have a right to migrate to support themselves and their families; and refugees and asylum seekers should be given protection. The final principle, that sovereign nations have a right to control their borders, is tempered by the notion that they also have “an obligation to the common good” and that “nations should seek to accommodate migration to the greatest extent possible.”

The bishops urged Congress to consider these five principles above all when they begin discussions on compromise immigration legislation the week of May 14. In the case that the negotiations fail, there will be two options on the table about which the bishops have made their position clear.

The STRIVE Act (The Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy Act of 2007) allows undocumented persons an eventual path to residency and later, citizenship; provides visas for a temporary worker program; legislates wage and worker protections for some industries; reduces the huge backlog of applications for family members to come to the U.S.; provides more legal assistance for the detained; and requires the U.S. to assist Mexico in addressing some of the root causes of why immigrants come. The bill is not perfect: none of these improvements could be made before border security is strengthened, and punishments against the undocumented and those who assist them would be stricter, are two examples.

But STRIVE seems golden when compared to the White House plan, which creates a prohibitive cost burden for immigrants who want to apply for work permits and later, citizenship; does not provide enough visas; has no labor protections for workers; and stipulates the creation of the 370-mile border fence on the southern border before any changes can be made. 

For this reason, the bishops are urging principles of comprehensive immigration reform to be considered in negotiations next week. But if those fail and the choice is between STRIVE and the White House plan, the former wins out by a long shot.

Complicating the situation is that radical anti-immigrant organizations like the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) use fear of the "other" as a main component their anti-immigrant website rhetoric and are trying to scare congresspersons into security-only immigration reform. The worst part is that they pretend to represent a majority of the public when they make assertions that:

• More immigrants means more violent crime.
• “Illegals” are an “enormous drain on public funds."
• Their presence in the U.S. “furnishes an opportunity for terrorists to blend into the same shadows while they target the American public for their terrorist crimes.”
• There are three major components of immigration control: “deterrence, apprehension and removal,” and these must be strengthened “if effective control is ever to be reestablished.”

The striking thing about this type of literature is the absolute inability (or perhaps unwillingness) to recognize undocumented immigrants as real persons with real needs. And of course, there is no acknowledgment of the root causes of immigration. (See my Nov. 2006 blog for a discussion of aid, trade and debt policy as structural factors that need to be addresses in any real immigration debate.)

Interestingly, recent polls of actual public opinion in the U.S. show that FAIR’s ideas of reality are not how most Americans see things. Here are some interesting results from polls posted on the National Immigration Forum website:

• In a Washington Post/ABC News poll in April, 62% of respondents thought undocumented immigrants should be allowed to keep their jobs and eventually apply for legal status, as opposed to being deported.
• A New York Times/CBS poll in March showed 59% of respondents agreeing that the undocumented should be allowed to keep their jobs and apply for legal status.
• In a Gallup/USA Today poll, also in March, 59% answered that the undocumented should be able to stay if they meet certain requirements over a period of time.

The results of these polls reveal that most Americans, like the U.S. bishops, actually do see immigrants as real persons. They, perhaps, would not be so surprised to enter my Tuesday night class and see Latino immigrants eagerly raising their hands to answer questions about U.S. history, Constitutional rights, and the duties of citizens. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to help more of the immigrants in my community move out of the shadows and into a space where they can fulfill some of their dreams for better schools, cleaner streets, and safer neighborhoods—as citizens. Join with the bishops and call your congressperson today to ask for comprehensive—not fear-driven—immigration reform.

by Jill Rauh, Senior Program Associate, Education for Justice

Comments

[John Mattingly]

Not only are all of these undocumented immigrants persons, who do the work we don't want to do at these less than living wages. But many of them have children who are American citizens. Families should not be broken up. A path to citizenship should be opened up as well as bringing in temporary workers for the farmers in the Southwest.

[jeanne dillon]

I was only able to print out page one of this fine article. I wanted to send it to my Republican Congressman to emphasize the principles I believe he should be guided by.

[Patrick McCormick]

Cheap Tomatoes

This should make everyone think, be you Democrat, Republican or Independent

From a California school teacher - - -"As you listen to the news about the student protests over illegal immigration, there are some things that you should be aware of:

I am in charge of the English-as-a-second-language department at a large southern California high school which is designated a Title 1 school, meaning that its students average lower socioeconomic and income levels.

Most of the schools you are hearing about, South Gate High, Bell Gardens, Huntington Park, etc., where these students are protesting, are also Title 1 schools.

Title 1 schools are on the free breakfast and free lunch program. When I say free breakfast, I'm not talking a glass of milk and roll -- but a full breakfast and cereal bar with fruits and juices that would make a Marriott proud. The waste of this food is monumental, with trays and trays of it being dumped in the trash uneaten. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)

I estimate that well over 50% of these students are obese or at least moderately overweight. About 75% or more DO have cell phones. The school also provides day care centers for the unwed teenage pregnant girls
(some as young as 13) so they can attend class without the inconvenience of having to arrange for babysitters or having family watch their kids. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)

I was ordered to spend $700,000 on my department or risk losing funding for the upcoming year even though there was little need for anything; my budget was already substantial.. I ended up buying new computers for the computer learning center, half of which, one month later, have been carved with graffiti by the appreciative students who obviously feel humbled and grateful to have a free education in America. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)

I have had to intervene several times for young and substitute teachers whose classes consist of many illegal immigrant students here in the country less then 3 months who raised so much hell with the female teachers, calling them "Putas" whores and throwing things that the teachers were in tears.

Free medical, free education, free food, day care etc., etc., etc. Is it any wonder they feel entitled to not only be in this country but to demand rights, privileges and entitlements?

To those who want to point out how much these illegal immigrants contribute to our society because they LIKE their gardener and housekeeper and they like to pay less for tomatoes: spend some time in the real world of illegal immigration and see the TRUE costs.

Higher insurance, medical facilities closing, higher medical costs, more crime, lower standards of education in our schools, overcrowding, new diseases etc., etc, etc. For me, I'll pay more for tomatoes.

We need to wake up. The guest worker program will be a disaster because we won't have the guts to enforce it. Does anyone in their right mind really think they will voluntarily leave and return?

There are many hardworking Hispanic/American citizens that contribute to our country and many that I consider my true friends. We should encourage and accept those Hispanics who have done it the right and legal way.

It does, however, have everything to do with culture: A third-world culture that does not value education, that accepts children getting pregnant and dropping out of school by 15 and that refuses to assimilate, and an American culture that has become so weak and worried about "politically correct" that we don't have the will to do anything about it.

If this makes your blood boil, as it did mine, forward this to everyone you know.

CHEAP LABOR? Isn't that what the whole immigration issue is about?

Business doesn't want to pay a decent wage.

Consumers don't want expensive produce.

Government will tell you Americans don't want the jobs.

But the bottom line is cheap labor. The phrase "cheap labor" is a myth, a farce, and a lie. there is no such thing as "cheap labor."

Take, for example, an illegal alien with a wife and five children. He takes a job for $5.00 or $6.00/hour. At that wage, with six dependents, he pays no income tax, yet at the end of the year, if he files an Income Tax Return, he gets an "earned income credit" of up to $3,200 free.

He qualifies for Section 8 housing and subsidized rent.

He qualifies for food stamps.

He qualifies for free (no deductible, no co-pay) health care.

His children get free breakfasts and lunches at school.

He requires bilingual teachers and books.

He qualifies for relief from high energy bills.

If they are or become, aged, blind or disabled, they qualify for SSI. Once qualified for SSI they can qualify for Medicare. All of this is at (our) taxpayer's expense.

He doesn't worry about car insurance, life insurance, or homeowners insurance.

Taxpayers provide Spanish language signs, bulletins and printed material.

He and his family receive the equivalent of $20.00 to $30.00/hour in benefits.

Working Americans are lucky to have $5.00 or $6.00/hour left after paying their bills and his.

The American taxpayers also pay for increased crime, graffiti and trash clean-up.

Cheap labor? YEAH RIGHT! Wake up people. THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS WE SHOULD BE ADDRESSING TO THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES FOR EITHER PARTY. 'AND WHEN THEY LIE TO US AND DON'T DO AS THEY SAY, WE SHOULD REPLACE THEM AT ONCE!'

THIS HAS GOT TO BE PASSED ALONG TO AS MANY AS POSSIBLE OR WE WILL ALL GO DOWN THE DRAIN BECAUSE A FEW DON'T CARE.